State Police, FBI to Help Combat Rising Violence in Chicago

(CHICAGO) — The city of Chicago is putting more police on the streets to help deal with the rising number of violent crimes taking place there.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he’s talked to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn about ramping up law enforcement in the area by adding 40 state troopers over the next 30 days.

The state officers will be used to help Chicago PD deliver warrants in high crime areas of the city’s South and West sides. The FBI is also dispatching officers.

Despite repeated calls by city officials and the Chicago police union, Emanuel has refused to hire more Chicago police officers.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the number of shooting victims between Jan. 1 and Aug. 14 of this year (1,254) is already more than half the number of shooting victims (2,185) reported for all of 2013. Eighty-nine homicides have been reported in Chicago this summer with 11 of those occurring in the first two weeks of August, the newspaper reports.